serial_experiments_lainfandomcom-20200213-history
Layer 3 - Psyche
There are police all around Cyberia, helping people and getting witness statements. Girls Voice: You’ve heard of a girl name Lain, right? Lain of the Wired. Lain is sitting in the station, talking to an officer. Police officer: Are your parents away on vacation or something? I called the number you gave me, but no one answered. Lain: I’m not lying Police officer: No, I don’t think you’re lying. I checked. You’re Lain Iwakura, all right. Your address and phone number check out. It’s late, so I’m going to have someone take you home. But next time, I want you to talk to me. Keeping quiet is a bad idea, even if you weren’t involved. Arisu comes running to see Lain. She crouches next to Lain and grabs her hands. Arisu: Lain, I’m sorry! This is all our fault. Are you okay, Lain? Lain stares silently at the floor. Arisu: Are you alright, Lain? Lain: A… Arisu: What is it, Lain? Lain: A… ri...su. Arisu’s Mom: Arisu! Come on! we’re going home. Arisu: Lain… Arisu’s mom: Arisu! Arisu: I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Lain...Tomorrow… Let’s talk tomorrow, okay? I’m sorry! Arisu runs out of the room. Police officer: So do you want to head home, too? Lain: A...risu Lain is driven home by an officer. Officer: You have a key right? Lain: Yes Lain gets out of the car and the officer drives away. She goes upstairs and looks in on her parents room; it’s empty. She goes back to her room and looks at her computer. Lain Typing: Message Navi: There are no messages for Lain. Lain stands up and walks over to her bed. Lain: Good night, Navi. Navi: Good night, Lain. Lain changes into her bear onesie, and goes to sleep. Lain wakes up and goes downstairs. The only other person there is here mom, who is washing dishes. Miho: Don't you think it’s embarrassing for a junior high-schooler to oversleep and be late for school. Lain: Mom… About last night… Miho: Hm? What about it? Lain: Never mind. Lain is walking to school and sees a black car parked in front of her house. She sees two little red lights moving inside. She takes off running. Lain is on the train. Voice: Lain. Lain. Lain. It’s me, Lain. You can hear me, can’t you? Lain: Who’s there? Voice: You are not alone At school, before class, a large group of girls is standing in a circle at the front of the classroom. --Oh, my god! --Was he cute? --Yeah, they wouldn’t show his face on TV! --Well… --Oh, you were screaming the whole time. Did you even see his face? Juri: Well, yeah, but…I was a little- --You were to scared to look. Arisu: Lain! Juri: Lain, did you get in trouble yesterday? Reika: Come on, it wasn’t really our fault. Arisu: I’m sorry I’ll be right back. Arisu starts to walk over to Lain. Juri: Right, Arisu was closest to the guy! --So, was there blood splattered all over? Arisu: Yeah… Juri: Tell them! --Come on! --Arisu! Lain is in class, drawing messy spiral in her notebook. “But that’s not all. If you look at the Psyche as a mere processes, you lose sight of the whole. A multi-purpose information terminal, The Navi has come into wide use even among grade-schoolers. However, activity within the wired is currently limited by the machine. The Psyche can dramatically increase the performance of any Navi.” Suddenly, The page looks as if there was a spinning abyss over her doodle. Lain puts down her pencil. Chisa’s voice: There was no reason for me to stay in the real world any longer. Lain looks over and sees Chisa outside the small window in the door. Everyone else in the class is paused, and faded to grey. Chisa’s voice: In the real world, it didn’t matter if I was there or not. When I realized that, I was no longer afraid of losing my body. Lain puts her hands over her ears. Man’s voice: Who is Lain? Lain: Huh? Man’s Voice: Who is Lain? Who is Lain? The voice seems to be coming from the spiral. Man’s Voice: Who is Lain? Arisu and Lain are in a locker room. Reika and Juri are standing, waiting for her, in the doorway. Arisu: There’s something wrong with us! We saw someone die right in front of us yesterday, but we’re acting like it’s something we saw in a movie. Reika: I know we were there last night, but it didn’t seem real. Juri: I guess it’s like that for me, too. Reika: I don’t think you should take it so seriously, Arisu. Lain opens her locker and sees an envelope on top of everything else. Arisu: No, that’s not what I mean. I’m saying it’s strange that we can’t take it seriously. Lain takes the envelope out of her locker. Arisu turns around. Arisu: Right, Lain? Lain: Huh? What? Arisu: What’s that, a love letter? Juri and Reika: Huh?! No way! Lain: N-No! I don’t think it is, anyway… Juri and Reika run towards Lain. Juri and Reika: Let us see! Let us see! Lain puts the envelope behind her back. Reika: Come on, don’t be stingy! Show us! Reika takes the envelope and holds it up. Arisu: Stop that! It’s mean! Reika: A brown paper envelope, huh? Juri: What’s written on it? Reika opens the envelope and a small computer piece falls into her hand. Juri: Huh? Reika: What the heck is this? Juri: Talk about boring! Reika hands the piece to Lain. Juri: I knew it. Lain is walking home. She pulls out the computer piece and looks at it. Lain: Psyche… --You’ve got it all wrong! Somebody peeped at my voice mail! I can’t believe it? -- As the relevant clauses were not in the resume we received, we are currently discussing how to handle it. As for your company... -- I love kissing. Just kissing is enough to make me happy. -- You heard about that kid pulling a stupid stunt on Accela, right? Looks like the black market supplier is freaking out. You can’t find it anywhere now. -- Rumor has it that the Psyche chip is mass-produced in factories in Taiwan. Rumor also says it was designed by a group called the Knights. But I’m not even sure if these “Knights” even exist. In the Wired, there’s a lot of urban legends like that. -- Dying feels so good! -- I feel accelerated… Lain is in her room, listening to people through her computer. -- What the--? There’s someone in my room! It’s a little person like a kid in a red and green striped shirt! I can’t move in my bed! It’s standing by my door, watching me! Help me! -- I have a picture of you with your secret lover. I just want to do business. What do you say? If you don’t buy it, I’ll leak this image data to your company’s server. You’ll be famous all over the Wired. Voice: Lain, why won’t you come over here? Lain looks at the computer piece in her hand. Navi: Lain has new mail. Lain: Navi-- Yasuo: How’s it going, Lain? Lain turns around and sees him standing in the doorway. Yasuo: Gotten used to you new Navi? He turns on the light in her room. Lain stands up and walks towards him. Yasuo: Something wrong? Lain holds the computer piece to her Dad. Lain: Do you know what this is? Yasuo: No. He starts to leave the room. Lain: I thought…I thought you’d know, Dad. Yasuo: I said I don’t know. He closes the door. Lain stares at her computer. Lain is leaving the house later that night, when she sees the black car in front of her house again. The two red dots in the window follow her as she runs by. Lain goes to Cyberia. As she walks in, the DJ puts a hand on her shoulder. DJ: Lain! Where you been lately? I haven’t seen you around. Lain turns to face him. Lain: I… DJ: What the--? Damn, you’re sure going for the “Little girl” look today… Let’s have another rave, okay? I’ll leave the planning to you. The DJ walks away. Lain goes over to a table where two boys (Taro and Masayuki) and a girl (Myu-Myu) are sitting. Taro: Why’re you trying to act so tough? Lain: Excuse me. Masayuki: Look who’s talking! Lain: Do you know what this is? They all stop talking. Taro leans over the table and gapes at the computer piece in her hand. Taro: I-Is that a Psyche?! Masayuki: Huh? Myu-Myu: No way! I’ve never seen one before! Masayuki: W-Where did you buy it? Lain: You know what this is? Taro: What’re you saying? With that installed, i could get full access to the Wired with even this! He holds out his phone. Lain: How do you use it? Myu-Myu: Talk about lame! You don’t even know that? Masayuki: Can i buy it off you? Can I? Taro: Moron! Like you could buy something like that! He turns to Lain Taro: What kind of Navi do you have? Lain: I’m not really sure. It’s a Tachibana. They’re newest model, I think. All Three: Awesome! Masayuki: Have you gotten inside it? Lain shakes her head. Masayuki: You in eighth grade? Ninth? Lain: Eighth. Masayuki: You’ve taken Basic Information, right? A Navi’s basic motherboard layout is in the textbook. You connect it to the board, opposite to the main processor. It intercepts the original data and manipulates it on its own. Using it is easier than building a model kit. You just need to watch out for static electricity. Lain: Oh.Thanks. Lain starts walking away. Taro: Hold it! Information isn’t free, not in the Wired or in the real world. Masayuki: How much you gonna charge? How much? Lain: Uh… Taro: You’re Lain, aren’t you? Lain: Huh? Taro: I saw you once. In the Wired. Lain: You saw me? In the Wired? Taro: you were totally different than you are now. Most people take on a personality in the Wired that’s different than what they have in the real world, but yours are total opposites. Myu-Myu: No way! Taro: You were here when that idiot started shooting, too, weren’t you? What are you planning? Lain: What… What should I do for you? Taro: Go out on a date with me! Myu-Myu: Moron. Taro: But not like you are now. I want the wild Lain. Lain looks startled. Taro: I’m just kidding! But if you feel like it sometime… Myu-Myu: What are you talking about?! Masayuki: Hey… Taro: Forget about it! Let’s go! Taro storms off. Myu-Myu: Huh. What’s so great about you? Lain leaves. Mika is walking home. When she gets to the door she sees two men in black suits standing in front of the door. Mika: Uh… Excuse me? Are you here to see someone? Who are you? One of the men turns around. He is wearing cybernetic glasses that have a small red light in the middle. Man 1: You never saw us. Mika: W-What…? I’ll call the police! The second man turns around. He is wearing an eyepiece as well. Man 2: We’re not here, you see. The first men start walking down the stairs and down the driveway. Mika: H-Hey… W-What the hell? Mika is talking to her mom who is in the shower. Mika: Mom, if they show up again, call the cops! Are you listening, Mom? Damn it… Mika walks upstairs and looks in Lain’s room. Mika: W-What’re you doing, Lain? Lain is sitting on her floor working on her computer in just a tank top. Mika: What are you doing? Why are you dressed like that? Lain: Well, I heard that you have to watch out for static electricity. So I thought it’d probably be safest if I took off my clothes. Mika: A-Are you kidding?